ABSTRACT
Ambitious tunnel projects are currently being carried out all over the world to increase capacities, shorten travelling times and strengthen railway transport in its competition. Especially, in long railway tunnels, critical events, which might quickly turn into a disaster, shall be avoided at any time. A crucial factor is effective supervision and fast response of the railway operator (dispatcher). The optimized interaction of the tunnel control system and the railway control system support the railway operator (dispatcher). Siemens Mobility delivered both systems for the 57 km long Gotthard base tunnel, which started commercial operation in 2016. Considering experiences during the project execution and the current operational experience we will show how the overall capacity can be increased by combining railway operation control and tunnel control. We will illustrate this exemplarily by discussing an operational risk of railway operation in long tunnels. We show, how the fast and effective reaction of the railway operator (dispatcher) enables to manage the operational risk effectively.
